Kunbuor’s public appeal unfortunate - Bartidam

The African Parliamentary Network has described as confusing, the appeal thrown to the public by Parliament to come forth with any evidence on the bribery and corruption allegations made against some legislators.

The Network is of the opinion that the House should have instituted an internal investigation into the matter rather than resorting to the public for evidence.

The Executive Director of the Network, Daniel Bartidam on Eyewitness News said Dr. Kunbuor’s public appeal “is a very unfortunate approach in addressing recent allegations” against the House.

A former Majority Leader, Alban Bagin, last week alleged that some Members of Parliament (MPs) accept bribes to articulate the views of some individuals and organisations on the floor of Parliament.

Parliament subsequently held a crisis meeting to discuss the allegations and Mr. Bagbin gave indications he is ready to defend the bribery allegations he made, insisting that the practice existed.

However, on Friday, Majority Leader, Benjamin Kunbuor urged the general public to help Parliament investigate the matter by bringing forth evidence.

Mr. Bartidam pointed out that Parliament is a critical institution in the governance of the country and so “if there are issues bothering on its integrity,” it should be able to deal with the matter internally.

“I thought that this was a specific issue that had been raised by a member of the House concerning the conduct and behaviour of his fellow members and that the House was going to institute its own internal mechanisms to resolving the issue,” he added.

Mr. Bartidam also mentioned that Dr. Kunbuor’s public appeal has sent the matter into a whole “different realm and cautioned that the focus should not be on “who is responsible for what…it should not be about who should bring proof.”